After 4 years with #Covid, the US is settling into a new approach to respiratory virus season. The addition of a novel germ has complicated & expanded respiratory virus season, which was already notoriously difficult to predict https://t.co/smfJi6PG7M pic.twitter.com/LamNo2JkHZ
— delthia ricks ?? (@DelthiaRicks) March 25, 2024
Last night's update: 85,366 new cases, 1,202 new deaths https://t.co/b3wPyVqHHk
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) April 1, 2024
So far this year, more than 2.8 million cases of COVID have been reported in the U.S., causing 243,599 hospitalizations and 24,406 deaths.
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) April 1, 2024
Interesting #COVID_19 stats- a 🧵:
1) 95% of current covid hospitalizations are in people who are not up to date on their vaccinations. So especially if you or a loved one is in a higher risk group, please consider a vaccine or boost.
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) March 30, 2024
2) Covid fell from the 3rd leading cause of death in 2021 to 10th in 2023. Things ARE objectively better. And we have to also focus on the other top 9 causes of death (eg opioid overdoses, heart disease, cancer).
3) We’ve seen a 75% decrease in hospitalizations compared to March 2022. That’s good.👍🏽
4) Most hospitalizations now in age > 64. Too many seniors are not “up to date,” and/or don’t get Paxlovid after testing positive.
Even GBD advocates for vaccines/ protection for elderly.🤷🏽♂️
5) For those under 64, obesity is the biggest risk factor for hospitalization and death. 66% of U.S. is overweight or obese, including most children. It’s why if you feel we should focus only on “high risk,” you must also acknowledge how many ARE at higher risk. 🤔
6) Some estimates are that as high as 14% of US population currently has covid at any given time (i.e. Prevalence).
7) Still 567 deaths weekly from covid. Many (if not most) are preventable, with vaccines and treatment. In theory we have the tools, but we aren’t using them.🤦🏽♂️
8) Up to 20% of US population has experienced “long covid.”
This = ⬆️ societal healthcare and economic (eg workforce) costs. And by definition, this number will keep going up. We ignore this at our peril.
It’s why we simply can’t pretend Covid is “over.”
Good news?
-Fewer (but still too many) hospitalized or dying.
-We have great tools to lower morbidity and mortality, and we know who needs them- we just have to choose (as a society/ govt and as individuals) to use them.Let stop fighting each other, and fight the virus.
The problems is changing variants vs waning immunity vs differential risk. CDC has shifted to flu vax -like recommendations to make it easier. If you haven’t gotten a shot in the last year, you’re not “up to date.”
If older, or high risk, you can get a shot ~every 6 months.
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) March 30, 2024
PMC COVID-19 Forecast, April 1, 2024 (U.S.)
🔹1 in 105 Americans actively infectious (0.95%)
🔹>400,000 daily infections
🔹About 400-600 thousand daily infections anticipated most of the next 4 monthsSpring & Summer Thoughts
I expect the U.S. to bounce around between… pic.twitter.com/gG67uF13SZ— Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR MBA (@michael_hoerger) April 1, 2024
Spring & Summer Thoughts
I expect the U.S. to bounce around between 400,000-600,000 daily infections/day through late July, so my behavior won’t particularly vary the next several months. May may be a little higher than April, June and early July, but the models are less precise outside of the 2-4 week window. If a family member were considering when to have a medical appointment in the next 4 months, I’d consider the date mostly arbitrary, as the precautions used would account for much more variance in risk. Based on historical data, transmission is anticipated to shoot up quickly in August, if nothing unforeseen happens regarding viral evolution, vaccines, or treatments.When Will Transmission be Lowest?
As noted above, this is somewhat arbitrary because transmission rates will bounce around a bit the next few months. There are 3 likely options: 1) We’ve recently passed the low point of transmission for 2024 (composite forecasting model), 2) we’re about to hit the lowest transmission (turtle model, which discounts Biobot’s most recent real-time data as too inaccurate to utilize), 3) in June after rebounding from May.
Full Report:
http://pmc19.com/data
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Thailand: – Covid outbreak at Prachuap prison
Emergency operations centre formed as cluster of 79 cases confirmed
Bangkok Posthttps://t.co/lJlyJ6An0E
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) April 1, 2024
Japan:
Are deadly strep infections on the rise? Apparently, the end of #Covid preventive measures may be contributing to surges in invasive strep infections globally. In Japan, there has been a dramatic rise in cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome https://t.co/aoMmpAQ9yy
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) March 29, 2024
Finland's epidemic 30 Mar 2024: wastewater data suggests that the next epidemic wave has started.
1/x pic.twitter.com/vNeypzFfLI— Ilkka Rauvola (@jukka235) March 30, 2024
Spain: Two million Spaniards have long Covid
29% of those affected are on sick leave, while 19% work with many limitations. Only 15% can carry out their work normally.https://t.co/IjfCD6neCa
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 31, 2024
“Only private jabs are available to most, but annual shots would save the NHS nearly £4bn a year and prevent more than 5,000 deaths”https://t.co/IMBkZWpSVu
— Kit Yates (@Kit_Yates_Maths) April 3, 2024
England:
A short thread on why this is not a scary chart and why all the evidence suggests that there is not much Covid around right now. 1/6 pic.twitter.com/unI1Nwl3W8
— Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) April 2, 2024
The longer, more detailed post, which also reflects on the last 4 years is here:https://t.co/n9dMNpKeGp https://t.co/Rl4P08t0z6
— Prof. Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) April 2, 2024
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The #Covid19 pandemic was awful. But it gave people who study immune responses an opportunity to see things scientists have never before witnessed in real time and at a global scale. A number told me about what was an extraordinary opportunity. https://t.co/pxEOMlWrw5
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@HelenBranswell) March 28, 2024
What’s next for the #coronavirus? Scientists who are studying the virus’s continuing evolution & the body’s immune responses to it, hope to head off a resurgence and to better understand #LongCovid https://t.co/ILjxs3ZcFd
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) March 28, 2024
#Covid: New research reveals details about potentially deadly inflammation. A USC study provides insight into why #SARSCoV2 may elicit mild symptoms at first but then, for a subset of patients, turn potentially fatal a week or so after infection https://t.co/38opB7qEVs pic.twitter.com/293Uti7TKb
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) March 30, 2024
… The team found that when SARS-CoV-2 infects its first-phase targets, cells in the lining of the lung, two viral proteins circulate within those cells—one that works to activate the immune system and a second that, paradoxically, blocks that signal, resulting in little or no inflammation.
The team also discovered a second pathway the virus sometimes takes to enter immune cells. This alternative pathway both stunts the virus’s ability to reproduce and prevents the production of the second immune signal-braking protein. The first protein is then able to spur rampant inflammation linked to severe symptoms.
“There are two stages that work through different signaling pathways,” said Rongfu Wang, Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics and medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “With the normal pathway, everything goes normally, and the virus replicates. When the immune cells pick up the virus, replication is defective, but it produces a lot of inflammatory signaling molecules called cytokines.”…
*Far-UVC light* can nearly eliminate airborne viruses in an occupied room. Far UVC is a technological breakthrough of short wavelength—UVC light—w/ potent germ-killing ability. Study shows far-UVC inactivated ~99% of an airborne virus in an occupied room https://t.co/oFYeAlJ9r5
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) April 3, 2024
For the last few years, @WHO and @CERN have been developing a risk assessment tool to estimate indoor airborne transmission of #SARSCoV2 to better advise on risk mitigation measures for #COVID19.🧵https://t.co/opyn5N6Sin
— Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) March 29, 2024
In parallel, @WHO established another technical working group to update terminology related to pathogens (not just #COVID19) that transmit through the air.
That report-based on 2+ years of consultations & involving many partners-will be published in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
— Maria Van Kerkhove (@mvankerkhove) March 29, 2024
US: More than 5,000 Americans have died from long COVID since the start of the pandemic
"I do expect that deaths associated with long COVID will make up an increasingly larger proportion of total deaths associated with COVID-19."
Report from Jan 2024https://t.co/pjH5XApXcg
— CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 31, 2024
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Four years ago today… pic.twitter.com/6gxnkGDgBG
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 30, 2024
Everyone who is maybe 10yo or older now who wasn’t actually killed by Covid will take the Covid years and the trauma that they brought to their grave. That’s the good ol’ days?
Delusional antivax nutjobs excepted, of course.
— Sean Herrala (@seanherrala) March 31, 2024
People in Republican-voting states are more likely to report "adverse events" linked w/ #Covid shots, according to a new study. People in Democratic-leaning states are less likely to make such reports, suggesting political views drive reported side effects https://t.co/mndeSXY5Fl
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) April 1, 2024
“I was trying to prioritize my physical health because I couldn’t lift things; I couldn’t open things. I didn’t understand why I was getting weaker.”
Our top story: Even a single infection can lead to life-changing effects—even organ damage. https://t.co/qjZfHIbp1m
— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) April 2, 2024
Fact check: There are no DNA fragments in #Covid vaccines. Moreover, the shots aren't linked to 'major safety concerns,' despite comments to the contrary from the whiny king of medical misinformation—Florida surgeon general Joseph Ladapo https://t.co/7g7t1uHK5T
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) April 1, 2024
“People who are still taking COVID precautions seriously have every right to be angry about being abandoned by public-health officials and experts. The very real pain that many people are experiencing has not been sufficiently acknowledged.” -me to @TIMEhttps://t.co/l1dG5sz9YM
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) March 27, 2024
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 3, 2024Post + Comments (31)